Korean Fried Chicken

Name: Korean Fried Chicken
Total time: 3600 s
Yield: 4 servings
Cuisine: American
Ingredients: 1 tbsp sesame oil; 1 teaspoon minced garlic; 1 teaspoon minced ginger; 1/4 cup water; 3 tbsp white sugar or honey; 3 tbsp gochujang (Korean hot pepper paste); 1 tbsp Soy Sauce; 2 tsp Vegetable oil; 1 tsp Sesame Oil; 3 garlic cloves, minced; 2 tbsp water; 2 tbsp Soy sauce; 2 tsp Rice vinegar; 3 tbsp Honey; 1/4 cup gochujang (Korean hot pepper paste); 1/3 cup ketchup; 1/4 cup corn starch (for dredging); 2 kg boneless chicken thighs; 3/4 cup Flour; 1/2 cup Corn starch; 1.5 cups Water (375 ml); 2 L cooking oil (vegetable, canola, or grape seed)

RiceCake @RiceCake

I've eaten this so many times, it's possibly my favourite food. Here's my interpretation after eating and cooking several different versions. I prefer a basic raw sauce, but I tried a cooked one which is great as well and slightly more acidic due to ketchup. I included both recipes.

Saved

Ingredients

60 minutes

4 servings

Raw Sweet Spicy Savory Sauce (SSSS)
1 tbspsesame oil
1 teaspoonminced garlic
1 teaspoonminced ginger
1/4 cupwater
3 tbspwhite sugar or honey
3 tbspgochujang (Korean hot pepper paste)
1 tbspSoy Sauce
(optional) Cooked Sweet Spicy Savory Sauce
2 tspVegetable oil
1 tspSesame Oil
3garlic cloves, minced
2 tbspwater
2 tbspSoy sauce
2 tspRice vinegar
3 tbspHoney
1/4 cupgochujang (Korean hot pepper paste)
1/3 cupketchup
Fried Chicken
1/4 cupcorn starch (for dredging)
2 kgboneless chicken thighs
3/4 cupFlour
1/2 cupCorn starch
1.5 cupsWater (375 ml)
2 Lcooking oil (vegetable, canola, or grape seed)

Saved

Steps

60 minutes

1

For the raw sauce, start by combining oil, garlic, and ginger into a microwave proof bowl. Microwave until fragrant, but not browned (about 50sec on high)
2

Add water, sugar, gochujang, soy sauce. Whisk together to combine. Taste, and add sugar/soy sauce/gochujang until you get your ideal flavour/texture.
3

For the cooked sauce, start by heating up oil on medium heat, then add garlic and simmer for 30-60sec until they just start to brown.
4

Immediately turn down the temp and add remaining ingredients for sauce. Continue simmering until sauce starts to bubble. Taste, add honey/brown sugar/soy sauce/gochujang/water until you achieve desired taste and consistency. The sauce will thicken as it cools.
5

For the chicken, start by heating the oil to 300F. There will be two separate fryings for this recipe.
6

Dredge all of the chicken in corn starch. This will help the batter to stick, and give more crunch.
7

Combine the 3/4 cup flour and 1/2 cup corn starch, then add water. Whisk to combine into a smooth slurry (it should look quite thin, like consistency of buttermilk).
8

The first fry should be fried in 2-3 batches because if you add too much at this step, the oil will cool and the chicken will feel soggy/saturated with oil. Put the chicken into the batter, and then one by one, remove the chicken from batter and let the excess drip off before placing it into the oil. Cook for 3-4 minutes (until about 130F internal) and then remove from oil, preferably placing on a cooling rack.
9

Once the first fry is done, let the chicken rest for 10 min - 20 min before the second fry. During this time, I usually whip up the sauce, or warm it up if it's pre-made.
10

Turn the oil temp up to 375F. For extra texture, dip the chicken back into the slurry and let it rest on wire rack for a minute.
11

If the chicken hasn't cooled off too much, you can add a lot more to the 2nd fry because the oil will not be cooling off as much. Cook for 3-5 minutes and then remove from oil (check internal temp to ensure at least 165F). Let the chicken rest for 2-5min so the skin can set.
12

Put the chicken in a large bowl, cover with some sauce, and then toss to coat all the chicken. Eat em' fresh, or wait till they're all done, they will still be crispy! Enjoy